Farmers are today reminded by the Farmers’ Union of Wales to be pitfall savvy when it comes to Glastir Entry and Glastir Advanced contracts to avoid financial penalties.
“It is important that farmers fully understand the obligations within their Glastir contracts as even a minor breach can result in a hefty/significant penalty,” said FUW land use policy officer Bernard Griffiths.
The union is therefore advising its members to regularly review their contracts to ensure that they are meeting the requirements. The most common pitfalls to avoid are capital works not being fully completed within the time limit or to the correct standard; no activity or stocking diary kept and/or information being inaccurately recorded; sward height not achieved; damage to habitat land; rubbish not removed from the farm; non-completion of arable options; stocking levels or stock exclusion requirements not being met; inappropriate supplementary feeding on habitat land and not meeting hedge cutting requirements.
“Apart from being penalised financially it is also worth bearing in mind that if the number of breaches found at inspection continues to increase, then the Welsh Government are required to increase the number of inspections it must carry out as dictated by the European Commission – which of course will increase the chance of farms being selected for inspection,” added Mr Griffiths.
The FUW is further advising its members who are unsure of their contractual obligations to contact their local county office for further advice or the Rural Payments Wales Customer Contact centre on 0300 062 5004.